Philadelphia Personal Injury Law Blog

There are certain careers that often seem to make the list when children are asked the fateful question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Doctors & lawyers frequently make the list. Professional ball players or rock stars are also popular choices. Fireman, or perhaps now firefighter, has been a dream job for many children for many decades. For one young Pennsylvania teen, becoming a firefighter became both a dream come true and a nightmare.

A 14 year -old resident of North Charleroi was involved in a car accident when an SUV struck him while he was responding to a fire emergency. The teen had been following in the footsteps of his firefighting father and had responded to many similar situations in the past. Unfortunately, while racing up his familiar route on foot, his was hit by the passenger side of the SUV and tossed 30 feet.

The driver's license is coveted rite of passage for most American teenagers. It represents not only a sign of maturity, but also a path to freedom. A driver's license means being free of rides from mom and free from the restrictions of a pedestrian life. In short, it grants the freedom of the road. This right is restricted and granted to only those "responsible" enough to handle it, mostly due to the fear that a distracted teen might cause a car accident or worse.

Some studies show, however, that in at least one category the teen drivers are more responsible than their adult counterparts. A recent survey conducted by AT&T stated that a higher percentage of adults are guilty of texting while driving than teenagers. Over 50% of all adult drivers claimed to have texted while driving, despite nearly all acknowledging that it was a dangerous practice.

Communication technology has made leaps & bounds in the past decade, supplying us with phones capable of checking email, sending text messages and taking photos. And the also let us make phone calls, too. The combination of text messaging and driving, however, can easily lead to a resulting car accident. Recent numbers reveal how effective (or ineffective) Pennsylvania's recent law banning texting while driving.

An American Automobile Association report stated that Philadelphia ranked number one in texting while driving citations during the year since the law was implemented with 243 issued. Montgomery County and Allegheny County followed in the number two and three positions, respectively. Crashes caused by a distracted driver were reportedly down slightly, which one official viewed as an encouraging start.

Philadelphia residents may have learned of the recent tragic sequence of events that struck one Philadelphia family particularly hard. A 15 year old girl was hit by a car in a hit-and-run car accident and is currently in critical condition as her spleen had to be removed following the accident. She is currently at Aria Torresdale Hospital.

Tragically, her 10-year-old sister was also struck by a car in another unrelated hit-and-run accident only two days earlier and broke her leg as a result of this accident. Fortunately, the driver responsible for this hit-and-run did turn himself in.